I have been told that my selections are going to be a “problem.”
This week in 155, blink-155 and beyond
It’s Green May! Do you get it? The month of May. But we’re talking about Green Day. This week we’ve got Blocked Party and P.O.D. Kast nice guy John Cullen on board to talk about “Redundant.” But we mostly talked about how he’s a fellow bevvy boy. What a blessing it is to find another bevvy boy.
Listen to the new ‘sode of 155 here.
Here’s some other stuff we’re thinking about right now:
Worriers “Never Quite Kicks In”
Sam: It took me a few tracks to really grasp that the new Worriers album, Warm Blanket, is not a pop-punk album. It’s slow and quiet and thoughtful and not for Fest. It feels borderline Josiah. “Never Quite Kicks In” makes the most fulsome departure from the band’s v Gainesville past and takes the greatest advantage of Lauren’s voice and look, I just love a synth. Also it’s short! You can’t lose!
Jos: Whenever Sam says something is borderline me, I get super nervous that I’m going to hurt someone’s feelings. I mean I don’t know if I’ve ever hurt Sam’s feelings. I’m sure I have and he perfectly hid it. And honestly, whatever it was, I’m sorry. But listening to this feels like it’s going to make me say something where someone who follows me gets bummed out cuz I didn’t like it enough. Also I’m in a meeting rn so I can’t listen because they might call on me. Okay I just hit play and it’s Josiah music. It’s sick. Twee synths win over gruff punk rock music any day of the week.
Loma Prieta “Glare”
Sam: I’m going to level with everyone - I’m incredibly tired. I nodded off moving from paragraph to paragraph. Was traveling for work this week and our flight was delayed last night, spent the day dropping off footage and gear, and now I’m committed to writing about “everything I love is coming back” and “time has proven me right” and “I’m buying smaller shirts again” and “I can’t even think of a funny way to keep going I think my brain has shut down entirely” but also “this is really great and of the current screamo revival this might be the top of the heap” and at the same time “I’m old so we should probably ask someone younger before making such inflammatory statements.”
Jos: What if Loma Prieta was some kind of male enhancement pill. “Ask your doctor if Loma Prieta is right for you?” Ugh now I have to look up what it actually means to see if this joke was offensive, and it wasn’t even worth it as a joke. But I’m just trying to get through Sam’s lil BrooklynVegan section before we talk about the good stuff. Okay it’s the name of a mountain we’re in the clear. But there was an earthquake there…. However I can’t find a death toll. It’s probably fine.
sadness // abriction
Jos: Never in a million years would I voluntarily listen to something that seems even new emo adjacent in 2023, but then I did. It’s all because my friend Adam F., formerly of Fun 100 and B-Lines, who I trust so much that I’ll click anything he sends me. How lucky we should all be to have a friend that sends us consistently clickable stuff. Adam has literally never steered me wrong. This split between the lower-case artists sadness and abraction feels lowkey mysterious-guy, but sadness has like 150k fans on Facebook. Both sides of the split have long, meandering compositions. The abriction side is undeniably interesting for its synths and pop-punk dalliance, but it’s really the sadness side I keep revisiting. It sounds like music made by a guy with really long frizzy hair who doesn’t really belong to any one subculture, like he loves tunes so much he could just as likely be in Dream Theater or this “post-blackgaze” stuff. It kinda sounds like early Deafheaven or Envy, with a handful of rockin’ sections (I love how the song fades in mid-jam). Really, it sounds like someone accidentally stumbled across emo and post-hardcore strictly from lurking Rate Your Music. Like maybe they’ve never even been to a show. It’s so cool. I keep listening to it over and over again.
Sam: Holy shit this is so great. I’m even more tired now than when I wrote my stuff so I just need everyone to know that I agree with what Josiah said and also he’s never hurt my feelings. Do you think I’ve hurt his? Holy shit it just got better. I love how this sounds. This sounds how I feel right now. Oh I just accidentally started playing it in two windows so that’s why. I’m really in that “losing it” zone now it’s been like three days.
Greta Van Fleet “Meeting the Master”
Jos: I think in general, millennials overdid it with “epic” sounding music, which is why everyone just loves “mid” crap so much these days. That’s probably why I only found out about a new Greta Van Fleet song from seeing Tim Heidecker dunk on its unoriginality (despite his own musical career making AOR pastiche). I decided to give GVF a fair shake years ago, and this new tune is not exactly an immediate win (and the little singer boy’s new hair is not helping), but it’s still pretty sick. What’s wrong with an epic acoustic jam that explodes with hard-panned guitar solos?
Sam: Is Tim Heidecker… annoying? His music is quite bad. Like if Warren Zevon was boring. This sucks but it’s better than anything he’s released that I’ve seen kiss-asses on my feed fawn over. Still bad, though, to be absolutely clear.
BLINK-155 LIVE
Jos: It’s really happening. I’m going to Toronto. Sam’s coming to Montreal. We are DJing in Toronto. I have been told that my selections are going to be a “problem.” We are also going to the MGK concert film in Montreal. When I really think about it, I haven’t really been out of my apartment late at night since before COVID. Maybe I will die?
Sam: I’m so excited about this. I love Montreal and I haven’t been since before the pandemic. I love Dundas Video. I’ve always wanted to DJ but never done it. Josiah started prepping and folks, it’s going to be so good. Chayne was pretty concerned about it in the chat. A very positive sign. People will be able to say “I was there.”
blink-155 s02e28
Arguably more important than the live shows, we’ve got another edition of the cult classic “words” cycle of Blink-155. Some really heavy hitters this week, including the f-word and the word “church.” Much to ponder. And it’s not too late to catch up on all the words episodes, you just gotta pay up.